Ripped open buses, ploughed up earth, exploded cars and, here and there, over-equipped soldiers, rooted to the spot, proudly showing off their heavy weapons. And then suddenly everything comes alive. They crawl, shoot, run. They kill and die. But not for real! More than a hundred people met up for a weekend in a paintball club lost in the middle of the Ardennes forest. They come from The Netherlands, France and Germany in ‘squads’ of ten to play at war. A head-on encounter with these dehumanised beings wearing frightening masks, whose bodies merge into the surrounding vegetation. The human condition is strange that it leads certain individuals, who were lucky enough to escape the ravages of war, to play at it with passion in a life-sized stage set.

WAR IS NOT A GAMEBELGIUM | 2009-2011

Ripped open buses, ploughed up earth, exploded cars and, here and there, over-equipped soldiers, rooted to the spot, proudly showing off their heavy weapons. And then suddenly everything comes alive. They crawl, shoot, run. They kill and die. But not for real! More than a hundred people met up for a weekend in a paintball club lost in the middle of the Ardennes forest. They come from The Netherlands, France and Germany in ‘squads’ of ten to play at war. A head-on encounter with these dehumanised beings wearing frightening masks, whose bodies merge into the surrounding vegetation. The human condition is strange that it leads certain individuals, who were lucky enough to escape the ravages of war, to play at it with passion in a life-sized stage set.